BEST
- Despite the devastating force with which Hurricane Irma hit parts of the Caribbean and Florida last week, art institutions managed to come out of the storm relatively unscathed.
- The landmark city-spanning event “Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA” is filled with hidden treasures and long-lost artifacts that curators tracked down in order to create the expansive survey of Latino and Latin American art.
- After a litigious battle between nature photographer David Slater and PETA over the moral rights of a selfie-snapping black macaque, the two parties have finally settled, with Slater agreeing to give 25 percent of his gross earnings from the monkey selfie to charities dedicated to protecting the crested macaque and its habitat.
- Sotheby’s auction of fashion photographer Mario Testino’s collection yielded an impressive tally, thanks in part to the savvy six-year-old daughter of Simon and Michaela de Pury, whose bid for a painting by Ugo Rondinone stole the show.
WORST
- documenta 14 has garnered lukewarm reviews since opening in April, and now director Adam Szymczyk is under fire for allegedly bringing the quinquennial to the brink of bankruptcy.
- Meanwhile, following reports of documenta’s financial woes, Szymczyk and his curatorial team responded with a vitriolic letter assigning blame to local politicians.
- An offhand comment by a British Museum curator during a live Q&A event sparked outrage and accusations of racism on twitter.
- Celebrity-art dealer—that’s right, a dealer of art made by celebrities—Jonathan Poole was sentenced to four years in prison for bilking high-profile clients including Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones and John Lennon of the Beatles.
- From cadmium-based paint to arsenic-laced wallpaper, hazardous materials have long been the ruin of artists. We’ve rounded up a history of the most menacing materials to stay away from.
CH-CH-CH-CHANGES
- Gallerist Micky Schubert is leaving Berlin to open an art incubator in New York with Janine Foeller, founder of Wallspace.
- Help Wanted! Do you have “gravitas”? Can you play well with others? The Metropolitan Museum of Art is looking for its next director.
- König Galerie announced it would be opening its third space in early October, to coincide with London’s Frieze Art Fair. The UK location is a departure for the gallery, which operates two venues in Berlin under the helm of art dealer Johann König.